News in Brief

BBC ups religion

The Christian Institute / en

The BBC will increase its mainstream religious output by giving greater prominence to non-Christian festivals such as Eid, Passover and Diwali, it was reported at the end of December.

It intends to broaden its audience by reflecting ‘an increasingly pluralistic society’. The BBC’s atheist head of religious programming, James Purnell, said it was important for British society to understand where it had come from and how religion plays an important part in that, stating: ‘The issues around belief are incredibly important to how we live.’

Abortion: protected?

The Christian Institute

The Home Affairs Committee was criticised in mid-December for its handling of an evidence session on abortion buffer zones. These are meant to keep protesters, or those offering alternative advice to women, at a distance from abortion clinics.

MPs heard from abortion industry representatives and pro-life groups after the government announced a review of abortion protests. Despite seeing no concrete evidence of harassment or violence by pro-life activists outside clinics, committee chair Yvette Cooper MP recommended that ‘further measures’ be taken. Only uncorroborated anecdotal evidence had been submitted verbally by a BPAS director.

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